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Positive trading update gives Lonmin shares a boost

The platinum miner’s share price rose 9% on Monday morning after it reported a profitable June quarter

17 July 2017 - 09:32
Robert Laing

Picture: REUTERS

Platinum miner Lonmin’s share price rose 9% to R12.19 on Monday morning after it reported a profitable June quarter.

Although average platinum group metal (PGM) prices rose in dollars (up 10.8% to $882/oz) from the matching period in 2016, the stronger rand caused this to drop in rand terms (down 3% to R11,506/oz).

Lonmin’s average unit cost was R11,278/oz, which was 4.7% lower than the previous quarter but 6.4% higher than the previous year.

The volume of PGMs sold grew by 10.8% to 180,348oz, helping Lonmin’s gross cash grow to $236m at June 30 from $225m at March 31.

June marked the third quarter of Lonmin’s financial year and it said it expected to meet its production target of between 650,000oz and 680,000oz by end-September.

"We believe this is achievable based on the sustained good operational results we have seen these past five months, combined with the fact that the fourth quarter of our financial year is traditionally our strongest," CEO Ben Magara said.